Over the last decade, a very significant trend has developed in the use of computer printers. More and more small, inexpensive impact printers are being installed in thousands of work places throughout the country. This trend toward smaller printers is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. While these small computer printers are very efficient and inexpensive, they have some limitations. More particularly, they are restricted in the thickness of the forms or mailers that can be processed through without experiencing paper jams, misfeeds, etc. For many of these printers, these problems are encountered if the mailer is greater than four plies.
A few years ago, a four ply self-mailer was developed specifically to run on these smaller impact printers. Four plies were used to eliminate difficulties in processing. This mailer was generally called a "reusable" mailer because the same paper plies were used to form the outgoing envelope and the return envelope. In short, this construction served to minimize the number of plies needed to construct a 2-way self-mailer that could be consistently run on small printers. This construction was widely used in the market.
This "reusable" mailer was normally constructed in two different versions. The first version typically contained both the outgoing MAIL TO or MAIL TO name and address and the RETURN name and address on the front of the envelope. The second version typically had the outgoing MAIL TO name and address on the front of the envelope and the RETURN name and address on the back of the envelope. In both versions, the RETURN address would appear in a position that could be mistaken for the MAIL TO address, thus resulting in the misdirection of the mailer.
In September, 1990, the U.S. Postal Service revised its mailing regulations regarding the design and use of reusable mailers. The new regulation stated that only one name and address could be visible in the MAIL TO zone on the front or the back of the envelope during any mailing. Both versions of the above-described reusable mailer became unusable due to these changes in the postal regulations.
Some manufacturers have introduced alternative constructions for reusable mailers. These newer constructions, however, have a major flaw. Namely, the number of plies required to create the outgoing envelope itself has been increased from two to three. When counting the insert and control plies, this increases the total number of paper plies in the mailer to five, instead of the previous four. This increase in plies causes the mailer to exceed many small printer recommended specifications. As mentioned previously, for many printers the use of more than four plies can cause jamming and create significant computer printing problems.
It is an objective of the invention to create a two-way reusable mailer that runs efficiently on small computer printers, and to comply with all current U.S. and Canadian postal regulations.
It is another objective of this invention to reduce the occurrence of confusion within postal facilities and others caused by the two MAIL TO addresses used on a two-way mailer.